Soccer Blog

Pareja discusses FC Dallas injuries

On Saturday morning, FC Dallas held their first training session in Frisco since before they left for the United Arab Emirates just over two weeks ago. After a session that went just over two hours, I caught up with new FCD head coach Oscar Pareja to discuss the five players who didn’t make the trip to the UAE (Raul Fernandez, George John, Stephen Keel, Zach Loyd and Walker Zimmerman) and see if they would be heading to Florida with the rest of the team on Monday.

And as “Papi” stated the answer to that is yes and no.

“Yeah, the plan is to take the majority of them to Florida. We still have two particular cases-Walker Zimmerman and Zach Loyd, to see what’s more convenient for them in terms of their health and getting there quicker,” Pareja said. “But they understand as well that being with the group is a priority and getting these players in Florida where they can be in some training but they can be around the team is important.”

Pareja added that he was going to meet with team doctors on Saturday afternoon to decide whether or not Loyd or Zimmerman would be traveling to the Sunshine State two days from now.

“So, we’re going to sit with the doctors after training this afternoon and decide what is the best for them. We wanted to have this day of training to see what was the final decision on these guys,” Pareja said.

He also elaborated on the specific issues both defenders are currently contending with.

Hearing the word groin mentioned in conjunction with Zimmerman is concerning since it conjures up images of him missing the first 15 games of last season with a similar issue that kept him off the field for all of preseason.

“In Zimmerman’s case, we’re waiting because apparently there is some different pain that doesn’t go away in his hip and his groin I think,” Pareja said.

It’s a similar story with Loyd, who is also being bothered by a hip issue similar to what limited his trademark durability last season.

“With Zach as well, it has been the same issue that he had last year. We’re trying to get his comfort with his balance so he can push it. Zach is the one who is making the most progress, so that’s good news,” Pareja said.

However, the news on John and Keel is much better and both players will definitely be traveling to Bradenton on Monday.

“George (John) is going to travel with us and George is coming along. (Stephen) Keel is coming along too. He’s coming with us,” Pareja said.
Fernandez, FCD’s starting goalkeeper and 2013 MLS All-Star who continues to recover from offseason sports hernia surgery, will also be traveling to the Sunshine State.

“He’s coming along. I’m very happy with his progression so far. He’s coming to Florida and he’s starting doing some work already on the field, which is great. Exactly (he’s doing some ball work) and not too taxing or demanding, but he’s touching the ball,” Pareja said. “I’ve started seeing him more often in the training ground, which is good news.”

However, FCD fans hoping to see “Superman” between the posts during the Florida trip might be a bit disappointed as he won’t play against either college side South Florida or the NASL’s Fort Lauderdale Strikers.

In fact, Fernandez might not be recovered enough to start in FCD’s final preseason game on March 1 in the Alamo City against the NASL’s San Antonio Scorpions.

“He won’t play in Florida, no,” Pareja said of Fernandez. “Hopefully there but probably that (the March 1 game) will be the earliest that we can think about him coming back, but yeah, I’m not thinking about rushing him. We want to be conscious about his rehab and the timing and actually because Chris (Seitz) and Richard (Sanchez) are doing a great job. So, we’ll see. We have to put the one who is ready to go 100 percent.”

But one player who will be making is preseason debut in Florida is Homegrown defender London Woodberry, who had a hamstring issue during the UAE trip that kept him off the field for FCD’s first two preseason matches against BK Hacken.

“Yeah, I think he can. I look forward to seeing him in Florida playing normally,” Pareja said.

And the new FCD coach liked what he saw from the McKinney native in training on Saturday morning.

“London came in from the offseason with a hamstring issue. He’s progressing. He’s dealing with that pain still but now it’s much better,” Pareja said. “Today (Saturday), he trained normally and that’s good news.”

However, the news is less than promising when it comes to the ongoing back issues that continue to plague one Eric Hassli. The veteran striker accompanied FCD to the UAE but his back flared up after the team arrived in the Middle East, so he was unable to play in either match against BK Hacken of Sweden.

And with Hassli’s back continuing to be an issue, all Pareja can do is wait and see if it gets better.

“Eric, he’s having some problems with his back and I’m in the situation where I need to wait to see when he gets healthy. So for me, it has been a little frustrating as well because you want to see players ready to go. With Hassli that’s been hard for him and I understand that he wants to do it and he wants to help the team, but the challenge that he’s had with his back is keeping him away from training fully all the time, so we’ll see. We’ll see how he goes,” Pareja said. “Most important is that they get healthy. That’s the most important part.”

During FCD’s nearly two weeks in the UAE, Hassli was able to train, sometimes in full sessions but sometimes not, but that is unfortunately currently not the case.

“He did train, yes. Sometimes he did different types of training. Sometimes he was involved fully but other times he was involved but doing different work,” Pareja said.

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This Sports Day Soccer Blog is a partnership with 3rdDegree. This blog will bring together soccer coverage from both the award winning Sports Day staff and the commentary and editorials of 3rdDegree. Owned and managed by media veteran, Buzz Carrick, 3rdDegree has been providing insight and coverage of soccer at all levels since 1997, and in particular, focusing on the Major League Soccer franchise, FC Dallas. The partnership was developed to share content and coverage for the betterment for the fans of soccer in the DFW area.